The most recent installment of the Ohio Valley Conference’s current top rivalry-one of the best series in the country over the past seven years, we would argue-provided little of what we’ve come to expect of games between Belmont and Murray State, or what most figured they’d see in the teams’ first and (sadly) only meeting of this season.
There weren’t a ton of Bruin three-pointers (seven, in 22 attempts for a 31.8% conversion rate). The Racers weren’t at their go-go best (just 32.3% shooting). There weren’t even as many heroics and eye-opening plays from Murray all-world guard Ja Morant, nor did Belmont star Dylan Windler light it up.
One could certainly say the highly anticipated showdown was a somewhat lackluster affair, but that wouldn’t give Belmont enough credit for its work on the road in a 79-66 win. The Bruins were in control almost entirely after the opening few minutes and won in front of the national TV cameras and a crowd of 8,969 at the CFSB Center, the largest in MSU history.
Belmont is regularly so proficient on offense that its defense rarely gets much attention, but the Bruins do hold teams to 41.8% shooting on the season and won the day this time. Murray State shot a season-low 32.3%, more than 18 percentage points below its season average coming in that was third-best in the country.
Offensively, Belmont was good too-53.2% shooting says as much-but not in the way many might expect, for 26 of its 33 baskets came inside the three-point arc. The Bruins’ four-out offense scored a whopping 52 points in the paint, with Kevin McClain scoring 23 points-including six of his nine baskets on layups-and center Nick Muszynski adding 20 points on 10-for-13 shooting. Nick Hopkins added 14 off the bench, and it all added up to plenty of points even as Windler was held to just five, though he did keep his team competitive on the boards with 13 rebounds.
Of course, the storyline entering the game was Morant, the Racers’ incredible sophomore guard who has been so good and so flashy he even has ESPN’s eyes firmly on him. He started out ready to put on a show, too, hitting one quick three-pointer and assisting on another with a terrific pass to give Murray an early lead, but then he turned an ankle landing after fighting for a rebound just over two minutes into the game.
Morant came back a couple minutes later, but by then the Racers’ collective balloons already looked deflated. He gamely played the rest of the way, scoring 20 points and dishing out nine assists, but he also shot just 5 of 19, mirroring the struggles of the rest of his team.
Instead of Morant being the story, we had to settle for Belmont coach Rick Byrd getting his 700th career win at the school, a remarkable achievement. On and off the court, Byrd has built nothing less than a model program that any school should be glad to emulate, and he is well on his way to a 13th straight 20-win season in the last 14 years, quite a feat for a program that was at the NAIA level when he took over in 1986.
Along with Belmont pinning Murray State with its first OVC loss, the conference race also tightened up considerably Thursday. The team tied with the Racers coming into the night also lost, as Jacksonville State was handled by Eastern Kentucky and Nick Mayo 88-70, a terrific win for first-year coach A.W. Hamilton. There’s a three-way tie at the top now with Austin Peay joining the Racers and Gamecocks at 6-1 after an 89-74 win over Tennessee State, with Belmont and Eastern Illinois just one game back of the leaders after EIU nipped Tennessee-Martin 66-64 after Josiah Wallace hit a three-pointer with 13 seconds left for the winning points.
Side Dishes:
- The nation’s longest winning streak continued as Hofstra won its 15th in a row with an 85-68 roll at James Madison. The Pride handled business convincingly and even had one of the night’s highlight moments with Eli Pemberton making a 90-foot heave at the end of the first half on JMU’s very ugly, very…ornate court.
- The best game of the night, maybe one of the best games of the year came in the always-entertaining Southern Conference. Wofford and Samford (the latter with jerseys saying ‘SAM’…huh???) traded the lead three times in the final 16 seconds of overtime, with Storm Murphy hitting a fallaway jumper at the buzzer for a 107-106 win for the homestanding Terriers. What a game. Samford led almost the entire way in regulation but Fletcher Magee sent the game to OT with a tying three with eight seconds left in regulation. Some spectacular individual performances-Magee scored 31, as did the Bulldogs’ Brandon Austin, and his teammate Josh Sharkey also scored 19 points and tallied 16 assists while also giving Samford a one-point lead with four seconds left in overtime. Also, Murphy scored the winner on a night when he was quite ill but also playing in front of family, per Todd Shanesy of the Spartanburg Herald-Journal.
- Also winning in the SoCon was UNC Greensboro, which improved to 18-3 by ripping The Citadel 83-60. Freshman Kaleb Hunter scored 21 points, or three more than he had scored in the previous six games combined. And again: the Spartans have an 18-3 record. That deserves a lot more attention than it has received.
- Michigan State posted another impressive road performance, winning at Iowa 82-67, and if the Spartans weren’t on the short list of Final Four contenders before this, they need to be now. Second tough road win in a week in the Big Ten for MSU, which won at Nebraska just last Thursday. The Hawkeyes actually led by four at halftime in Iowa City, but the Spartans pulled away and limited the normally sharpshooting hosts to 38.6% from the field and even only eight free throw attempts for one of the nation’s leaders in that category.
- North Carolina State committed a whopping 23 turnovers leading to 37 points and also committed 23 fouls leading to a 29-7 advantage in free throw attempts for Louisville. Result: an 84-77 Cardinals win at home where five scored in double figures and a total of seven scored at least nine points.
- A bizarre finish helped Washington stay undefeated in the Pac-12. The Ducks threw away the ball with a final possession to win it in regulation, and then Jaylen Nowell was fouled (allegedly; it didn’t look worth a call) on a 30-foot desperation shot with just over a second left. Nowell made all three free throws, Oregon turned it over yet again and after two more free throws the Huskies had a 61-56 win on the road. Washington is now 15-4 overall. Also in the Pac-12, USC blew out Arizona 80-57. Wildcats? Woof.
- Cincinnati is a quiet 17-3 after blowing out Tulsa 88-64, leaving no doubt after stealing one on the road against the Golden Hurricane two weeks ago. Jarron Cumberland scored 23, Justin Jenifer tied his career high with 18 points and six three-pointers, and the Bearcats hit 14 three-pointers.
- Don’t look now-UAB is a factor in Conference USA again. The Blazers won at North Texas 52-49 and are now one of five teams with two losses at the top of the standings. Old Dominion is half a game ahead of the rest at 6-2 after eking out a 50-48 win at Texas-El Paso, while Louisiana Tech handed Marshall its second straight loss on the road, prevailing 89-80 in overtime.
- The Sun Belt has a new sole leader, and the makings of a special season are going on at Texas State. The Bobcats won at Georgia State 81-68. If one hasn’t heard of him already, you need to get to know the name Nijal Pearson, the TSU star who scored 27 in this one. Texas State is 17-3 overall, its best 20-game start in nearly 60 years, since 1959-60. The Bobcats won 15 games all of last year.
- Northern Kentucky is atop the Horizon League, solidifying its position with an 87-65 win over Wisconsin-Green Bay. Seven-foot-1 sophomore reserve Chris Vogt topped his single-digit career high for scoring in the first half and finished with 20 points plus a career-high 14 rebounds and three blocks. The Norse are now 17-4 and two games clear of the field in the Horizon at 7-1.
- Finally, how about the season by Cal State Bakersfield so far? The Roadrunners stayed in first in the WAC with an 88-84 win over upstart Cal Baptist as Jarkel Joiner scored 34 points. Bakersfield is now 14-6 overall and another vastly improved team, already past its 12 wins all of last year. Rod Barnes has done an excellent job with this program.
Tonight’s Menu: It’s another very quiet night. Moving quickly, a listing of the games…
- Michigan and Indiana meet for already the second time this year (6:30 p.m. Eastern, FS1), this one in Bloomington. The Wolverines won the first but have leaking oil a bit, and IU needs this one badly. Strong as the conference is, at some point the resume excuses of them all being Big Ten losses of late will still ring hollow.
- Coming off a road loss at Northern Illinois, Buffalo has another tough one at Kent State (6:30 p.m., CBSSN). There are no gimmies on the road in the MAC.
- Rider is the lone undefeated in the Metro Atlantic, but regular heavyweight Iona will try to reel the Broncs in at home. (7 p.m., ESPNU). Also in the MAAC, Quinnipiac is at Marist.
- A good one in the Ivy League with Brown at Yale. The Bears-like Yale-had an excellent non-conference run but would drop to 0-2 with a loss here.
- The night closes with Butler at Creighton (8:30 p.m., FS1), in what is probably the closest thing there is to a bubble battle already in January.
Enjoy your Friday and have a great weekend.
Twitter: @HoopvilleAdam
